What to make of pitch counts (errrr the Lincecum fiasco)

So if you’re in the bay area then chances are you’ve seen the banter about the Giants pulling Lincecum out of the Arizona game in which he had a remarkable 13 k’s through 6 innings or something.

Anyways, would it really have been worth letting him go 125-130 pitches to handoff the close to Wilson? Not at all. For a team that loses 2 out of 3 games it makes no sense to pitch deep, whether their arm feels good or not.

The goal of this year is to find out what you have and apply that knowledge for when it matters. For example, we all know Lincecum can deal so send him to the showers at around 100 pitches. But Tyler Walker? He’s no good. Perhaps he serves a role if you’re losing by 5 runs and need long relief but other than that he’s optionable to the minors as far as I’m concerned.

So in the end , the Giants did the right thing. They know they can trust Lincecum and Wilson, but not Walker. Had Walker not been on the mound, we wouldn’t have been able to confirm what we’ve seen time and time again, him blowing the lead.